HOUSTON — J.J. Watt has been so spectacular this season that a very good performance is not good enough for the Houston Texans' defensive end.

In his second season, Watt has set such a standard that he has to be consistently great or he's almost disappointing.

J.J. Watt has set such a high standard that when he doesn't play great, it's a bit of a disappointment. (AP Photo)

"If people expected good from me and not great, I'd be disappointed," Watt said a few days before Sunday's divisional round playoff game at New England. "You want people to expect greatness from you. You want to get to that point in your career because nobody has higher expectations for me than myself."

Watt, 23, led the NFL with 20.5 sacks and 16 pass deflections, but there are two more statistics that are almost mind-boggling: He accounted for 95 plays of zero or negative yards. On running plays, he had 24 stops for negative yards and 15 for no gain.

Watt also had a hand in nine takeaways. Five of his deflections were intercepted, two of his four forced fumbles were recovered by teammates, and he recovered two fumbles himself.

"When I look in the mirror, I have much bigger expectations than any media member, coach or player has for me," Watt said. "If you want to be the best, you have to want to do things that have never been done. I'm always striving to do that."

Watt didn't have a sack or a deflected pass in the first meeting, but he hit Tom Brady three times, had four tackles and forced a fumble. Still, he knows he has to play a lot better — great, in fact — if the Texans are going to avoid being eliminated in the divisional round for the second consecutive season.

"I don't think I played my best game," Watt said about the first meeting. "I think we can all agree on that. I got a few hits on him, but, obviously, the ball was gone. I need to play better, and I'm going to play better.

"We go on the road and play a very good team. It's win or go home. This is what you live for. This is what you play for. As a kid, you dream about being in the playoffs. It's a great opportunity for us."

The key to success against the Texans' defense is to contain Watt. He's disruptive against the run and pass. He's quick off the ball, knows how to get leverage, uses his hands well and has a relentless attitude as he pursues backs and quarterbacks.

"He's an incredible player," said Brady, who threw four touchdown passes in the first game. "He's had another great season. He's as good as anyone playing in the game, and we know how challenging it is to play against him.

"What he does in both the run game and the pass game — the passes defensed is an amazing statistic. You have to know where he's at on every single play because he's so disruptive with tackles for loss and his penetration of the backfield."

As they did before the regular-season game, the Patriots have used brooms in practice to emulate Watt and his teammates getting their hands up to knock down passes.

"There's been some of that this week," Brady said. "Coach (Bill) Belichick always really challenges us in different ways. He finds strengths of the other team and then really tries to emphasize it with our team. That's been one of the things.

"The passes defensed, and just to get into our mind that they're a very active group up front that defends a lot of passes, certainly, not only over the middle but in all parts of the field. There's no team better in the league at it than the Texans."

Belichick has had two weeks to prepare for Watt and the Texans' defense. He's not thinking about scoring 42 points against them like the Patriots up last month.

"There's a lot more to it than sacks," Belichick said about containing Watt. "We certainly had a big challenge dealing with him the last time. It'll be a big challenge dealing with him again, as well as the entire defense.

"Watt does great on runs at him, runs away from him. He's a good pass rusher. You've got to block him on every play. He's a tough guy to handle. I don't think you really slow him down. You just try to keep him from ruining the game. That in itself is a challenge because he's so good."

Like his teammates, Watt is certain a different Texans team will show up in Foxborough than the one that wasn't ready to play and made countless mistakes in December.

"Last year, we were very excited to be in the playoffs," Watt said. "We were happy to make it as far as we did, but this is a new year with new goals. This is a big step for us, and we're really excited about the challenge.

"The playoffs bring with them a certain aura, a certain feeling and energy and adrenaline. I treat every single game the same. I come out every single game as hard as I possibly can. Every single game I bring everything I have, and the playoffs are no different."

Watt is 6-5, 295 pounds and loves to play on what he calls the big stage. He knows what's expected of him every game. He knows how important he is to his team and not just to his defense.

"Yeah, it's a huge stage," he said. "It's the game I've been playing since fifth grade. When I step on the field, I remind myself of that, and I remind myself how lucky I am to be here, how hard I've worked to be here and how much fun I get to have. They pay me to play this game. It's crazy, and it's a blast."